Castle or no castle

I'm still confused when to castle and when u shouldn't castle. Any guidance?

Castle! Safe your king.

to castle or not to castle, that is the question

You castle by default, but if like your kingside and queenside are both open or it leads to piece loss/checkmate, don't. It's quite simple. Don't castle into an attack.

If castling will make your position better and also protect your king better, then castle.

You should castle

As a general rule castling is a good idea as it puts your king in a safer place and develops your rook towards the centre where it is likely to have more influence in the middle-game.

However, don't castle just for the sake of it - look as the individual position and try to work out if it is the best move to play in that particular position.

castle

@GShot5879

We all have heard the advice to castle early, usually within the first 10 moves. However, the short answer it that it, just depends. When you watch videos of grandmasters you often see them struggling to decide which is right or left too.

It's usually better to castle. Especially at your level castling early makes it so much easier to play. You must be careful in some situatons though. Do not castle when there are opened or semi opened files in front of your king. Do not castle when there is a tactical shot after you castle (for example when your rook moves to an attacked square). In some rare cases it's possible to castle right into checkmate, so make sure you don't do it.